Prospect Watch: Cole Tucker Homers; Three Hits for Travis Swaggerty

A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time or loses his prospect eligibility (Austin Meadows, Colin Moran, Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Max Moroff and Dovydas Neverauskas), he will be removed from this list. Everyone below him will be shifted up a spot, and a new player will be added to the bottom of the list. If a player is out for the season, he will be removed and everyone below him will move up a spot. Removing these guys doesn’t mean they have lost prospect status. It is just an attempt to get more active prospects on the list. Rankings are from our 2018 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

Brandon Waddell made his second start after making four appearances out of the bullpen. The first one started off fine, but he got hit hard in the fourth inning. On Wednesday night, he gave up two runs in the fifth, then settled down to go seven innings. Waddell allowed two runs on nine hits and two walks, with three strikeouts, while throwing 69 of 96 pitches for strikes. Casey Sadler got his first save of the season with two shutout innings.

On offense, Jordan Luplow had two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while also picking up an outfield assist. Jose Osuna had a single, RBI, walk and run scored. Kevin Newman had a single, walk, run scored and his 21st stolen base in 30 attempts. Adam Frazier had a single and a walk. Sean Rodriguez played his third position in three days (3B, RF, 2B) and went 1-for-4 with a single and run scored.

Eduardo Vera started the game, but did not last long. The third batter of the game hit a line drive that got hit on the right forearm and he needed to go to the hospital to get it checked out. Tate Scioneaux took over and allowed a three-run homer, with two runs being charged to Vera. In 2.2 innings, Scioneaux allowed four runs of his own. Logan Sendelbach did nice work with three shutout innings. Geoff Hartlieb gave up one run over two innings and Matt Eckelman struggled in the ninth, so Logan Ratledge had to record the final out.

Cole Tucker had a nice game, hitting his second home run, while walking twice, scoring two runs and stealing his 19th base. Bryan Reynolds had three hits, including his ninth double. He also drove in a run. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits and a run scored. Logan Hill had an RBI triple. Tyler Gaffney had a single and a walk.

Mike Wallace got the start and went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk, with two strikeouts. He had a 12:4 GO/AO ratio and threw 62 of 92 pitches for strikes. Blake Weiman stranded two inherited runners in the seventh and retired the final five batters for St Lucie in order.

Jason Delay returned from a lower back strain that put him on the DL. He caught the entire game and went 1-for-2 with an RBI. The Marauders had eight hits, all of them being singles. Bligh Madris had two hits and a run scored. Garrett Brown had two hits.

Domingo Robles got the start and was hit around, allowing 11 hits in six innings. He gave up four runs, though only two were earned. Robles had six strikeouts, one walk and threw 64 of 92 pitches for strikes. He now has a 3.19 ERA in 84.2 innings. Drew Fischer followed and allowed two runs (one earned) in two innings. Elvis Escobar made his second relief appearance since switching to the mound and he retired the side in order on 13 pitches in the ninth.

The Power had five hits and one walk. They went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Rodolfo Castro had the only extra-base hit, his 11th double. Calvin Mitchell had two hits. Chris Sharpe and Lolo Sanchez each had hits. Sanchez picked up an outfield assist. Ben Bengtson had a walk. The Power committed five errors, including the 25th by Cruz. He had just two of those errors in his last 18 games, so he has been playing better.

Travis Swaggerty had two singles and his third double. He scored two runs and is now batting .333 in limited time. Brett Kinneman had a single, double and drove in two runs. Paul Brands, Robbie Glendinning and Luke Mangieri all had two hits. Glendinning doubled and drove in a pair. Mike Gretler made his pro debut and went 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Jhoan Herrera hit his seventh double.

Michael LoPresti got the start and gave up two runs over three innings. He threw seven shutout innings in his last two outings combined. Ryan Valdes followed with three innings, giving up one run, which was unearned. He struck out five batters. Shea Murray had trouble throwing strikes, walking three batters while recording one out. Three of his 16 pitches went for strikes. Cody Smith had 1.2 scoreless frames, while Logan Stoelke recorded his second save with a shutout inning.

Colin Selby was dominant in his first two outings in pro ball, but he didn’t have it in this game. After allowing just one hit over 6.2 innings coming into the game, he gave up three runs on five hits and four walks in 3.2 innings. Yeudry Manzanillo allowed six earned runs in 2.2 innings. Adonis Pichardo gave up two runs over the final 2.2 innings.

The offense recently has either been Jonah Davis or Mikell Granberry, or sometimes both of them if they are in the lineup together. Davis had off today, so Granberry ended up as the go to man in this one-sided loss. He had a single, double and a walk. He has four straight multi-hit games now and has walked four times total in those games. He has a .351/.489/.549 slash line in ten games.

The Pirates scored eight runs in the seventh inning to pull away. Seven players had at least two hits and seven players also drove in runs. Jack Herman had a big day and he’s now hitting .571 after going 4-for-5 with a double, triple and two runs scored. Steven Kraft hit a homer and drove in four runs. Patrick Dorrian hit an inside-the-park home run and drove in three runs. Joseivin Medina, who recently came over from the DSL, had two hits and scored three runs. Raul Hernandez caught his first full game during his rehab and had two hits.

Brad Case got the start and allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks in five innings. He had three strikeouts and a 7:2 GO/AO ratio. Jacob Webb made his second appearance and threw a scoreless inning. According to Wilbur Miller, he was sitting 93-94 MPH. Andres Arrieta allowed two runs on three walks and couldn’t make it through an inning. Kleiner Machado gave up one run over the final 2.1 innings and got the win.

Bryan Torres, the top pitcher signed during the 2017-18 international signing period, threw 4.2 shutout innings, giving him a 1.52 ERA in his first 29.2 innings. He has given up just two runs in his last five starts combined. Domingo Gonzalez retired all four batters he faced for the win. Wilger Camacho allowed one run in one inning, Oscar Echarry and Julio Rosario tossed scoreless innings to finish out the game.

Juan Pie had two hits, including his sixth double. He’s batting .330 through 23 games. Yoyner Fajardo hit his fifth triple. Shendrik Apostel hit his third home run, then left after being hit by a pitch in his next plate appearance. He was replaced at first base by Ronaldo Paulino, who hit his third homer in his first at-bat.

Francisco Hodge had an excellent start, giving up one run over five innings. He allowed four hits and one walk, while striking out four and posting a 6:2 GO/AO ratio. Yeison Santos threw two scoreless frames, then Denny Roman finished the game off. In 4.2 innings over three appearances, Roman has allowed one hit, with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

On offense, Angel Basabe had a single, double, walk, run scored and an RBI. He has a .355 average through 15 games. Ivan Rosario had two hits and scored two runs. Mariano Dotel had an RBI and stole his seventh base. Eduar Ramirez had two hits.